HOT Family Reunion

Last night was a success!!

We woke to a beautiful sunrise!

My uncle had a nice fan that he let us borrow and it made a world of difference! The low was 78*, not exactly camping weather, and the air in the tent was stagnate. That fan kept the air moving around us and we slept as well as you can in a tent. Ayden did great too! I tried putting him in his own little bed but he woke up scared for his first feeding so we co-slept for the rest of the night. I didn't sleep with any covers so I was able to sleep worry free.

 

Ayden was up and at 'em at around 6 am so we enjoyed our usual Saturday morning hang out time.

And then started our day of hanging out and keeping cool!

Ayden's "pool" was the talk of the reunion :)

There is always a big pot luck on Saturday but the majority of the selection is far from healthy so David and I enjoyed salads with chicken seasoned with our favorite loco rub that I cooked on Thursday. The funny part is that we didn't even miss any of it! Our bodies probably thanked us too because the heat was already putting them under enough stress. They didn't need to worry about processing a bunch of junk.

After we ate, the rest of the afternoon was spent keeping cool. Ayden napped even more than usual, I suppose sleep was his escape from the heat.

I also made sure that I nursed him more often than usual so he'd stay hydrated and let him try some water from a bottle first time, which he loved!

The best part of the weekend was that most of my extended family got to meet Ayden for the first time. Since I can pretty much get him to smile on command, they've all seen tons of smiley pictures of him on Facebook and everyone's first question was, "is he ALWAYS happy?" Our answer is always, "Oh he has his moments! We just don't think it's as fun to take/post pictures of him during those moments." He had plenty of smiles for everyone today, though, and melted everyone's hearts.

We ended up cutting our weekend short. The heat drove everybody home early and we didn't want to be the only ones left camping tonight. We were bummed but decided having a full day at home tomorrow was more appealing than camping another night all alone. As we were packing everything up, David and I were reflecting on how well Ayden did. Considering that we were in 104* weather (we stayed in shade and there was an amazing breeze that took the edge off, but still...), he slept well, napped well, ate well and stayed in a relatively good mood the whole time. The more we do this kind of thing the more conditioned he'll become to enduring a little less than comfortable conditions in the name of fun and adventure.

~Sarah

No Stress Road Trip

Ayden and I had such a busy day preparing for our weekend trip! First, we took Maverick and Polly to the kennel. I'm sure I was quite a sight. I had Ayden in the Ergo, Polly in her carrier in one hand, Maverick's leash in the other and their bag of stuff on one shoulder.

Once we got them all squared away, we headed to David's parents' house to do their watering. Ayden fell asleep on the way there so I just rolled the car windows down and let him sleep while I watered the front yard since I could keep my eye on the car the whole time. When I was ready to move to the back, I brought Ayden with me. He, of course, woke from the squeak of the door opening so I put him in the Ergo. He watched me for a little while but then ended up finishing his nap. It took a while but I gave everything a good drink.

By this time it was around noon. I nursed and changed Ayden and we were off to conquer some more To Do's. We stopped by the library to pick up a book that was on hold and by the time we got home, he had fallen asleep again! Luckily he transitioned smoothly to his crib and got about another half hour of sleep in.

My goal for this trip was "no stress preparations." We thought realistically ahead and that's why we went to the grocery on Wednesday, did the food prep on Thursday which just left packing for Friday. I also made sure to sprinkle some house cleaning all along the way so that we will go home to a clean house. I am proud to report that I didn't feel stressed at all during the preparations for our first road trip with a baby. It totally pays to think ahead, get organized (I started making lists for EVERYTHING over a week ago) and stay focused.

I got everything packed from diapers to food and clothes for everyone. When David got home, I warmed up some leftovers for dinner while he got to work on packing the car. Another wonderful thing that lead to the low stress level of trip prep was that we hadn't set a strict departure time. We both moved quickly, and with purpose, but we had decided that there was no rush and we'd get on the road whenever we got on the road.

We left our house around 6:30, made it to our destination a little after 9 and Ayden slept the whole whole way! Here's hoping we get some sleep in our tent with the heat tonight!

~ Sarah

Let's Get Excited!!

We had another great night last night and slept in a little this morning. Can't complain about that!

Well rested and ready for the day!

Since we slept in a little, I knew that Ayden's morning nap would end right around when story time was starting; so I decided to go to the book store early so that he could take his full nap in the stroller while I looked around.

Before I got my Kindle, browsing bookstores was one of my favorite things to do. I was actually hesitant to purchase a Kindle because I thought I would miss the feeling of holding real books in my hands. As it turns out, it was the content of the books that I loved most because now I hold my Kindle as near and dear to my heart as any book I ever loved. But, Kindle or not, I still love browsing bookstores.  Instead of purchasing any books, I open my Amazon App and add any interesting books that I might want to read to a Kindle wish list that I have set up.  Then, when I'm ready for a new book, I just choose one from the wishlist to download. It's the best of both worlds :).

When it was finally story time, Ayden was still sleeping so I woke him up and surprisingly he was in a good mood and enjoyed himself. It has been really fun to watch him evolve at story time. We've been 8 or 9 times now.  During the first one we attended, he was super serious the whole time. As time has passed, he's definitely livened up and different songs seem to be his favorite every time.  At first, Peas Porriage was the only one that would get him to smile, then it moved to Row Row Row Your Boat, then Patty Cake, then this silly one talking about how farmers, ladies and gentlemen ride horses.  Today it was a scarf rhyme.  At bedtime, I've been taking this little "lovey" blanket and tickling his face with it and I think the scarf may have reminded him of that becaues he was acting the same as he does when we play that game. 

Something else he did for the first time today was actually show me that he wanted to nurse. For the past week or so, he has acted excited when he'd see the cues that I was about to feed himm, but he had never actually tried to initiate it himself. During story time, in true EASY baby fashion, he was expecting to eat when he woke up.  He didn't let his hunger stop his enjoyment but after every couple of songs, he'd push back and roll over and assume the nursing position.  Or, if I turned him toward me he'd bury his face into my chest and then fuss when I turned him away.  Storytime is only a half hour so I knew he could wait it out. My mom always told me that my sisters and I would reach down her shirt in public when we wanted to nurse (we were breastfed until 18 months or so) and I think Ayden is already headed down that same path.  Things are about to get intersting, I'm sure! 
I fed him in the car after story time and then we headed to Target to pick up a few things for our camping trip this weekend.  Since we would be shopping during his awake time I decided to wear him in our sling.  When he saw me get it out he smiled, laughed a little and started kicking his little legs in excitement.  That was two times today that he showed excitement in anticipation for something and it is definitely a new develoment that I am enjoying!  He actually ended up falling asleep again, which was a first in the sling.  I suppose he needed to make up for the sleep lost from when I woke him for storytime. 

I purchased my sling here.  We love it!

We were at Target for much longer than I wanted to be because I talked to both my sister and my dad on the phone while we were there and I've never been able to shop and talk on the phone at the same time.  For one, my shopping list was on my phone and two, I always end up having to backtrack becaue I'm not concentrating on the order in which I look for things.  It ended up being okay, though, because Ayden woke up on his own while I was in the checkout line.  I was glad he got the sleep he needed while I was wondering around the whole store talking on the phone forever.

When we got home, I started the food prep for our camping trip.  Since we are currently on a pretty restrictive diet, David for health reasons, and me as a support for him, we aren't going to be able to eat any of the food that be available there.  Here is a list of food we are taking:

-paleo crunch cereal (with bananas, raisins, strawberries/blueberries & cinnimon as toppings)

- coconut milk

- salads with chicken, pumpkin seeds, raisins, pecans, and oil/vinegar (enough for 2 meals each)

- spaghetti squash with meatsauce (enough for 2 meals each)

- lots of snacks (carrots with salsa/hummus, dried fruits, apples, kale chips, pecans, etc.)

We'll be taking a camping burner and a pot with us to warm the chicken and spaghetti squash. We were going to take hot dogs and s'more stuff (just for me) but beacuse of the drought we are experiencing, we won't have a bon fire like we usually do, or fire works for that matter. We may still take the bon fire food just in case because we purchased grass fed beef hot dogs and all natural marshmallows, in other words, the best quality hot dogs and marshmallows possible (if it even is possible...) and if for some reason we do get to have a bon fire, we wouldn't be able to participate if we were left to Hershey's chocolate and Oscar Mayer hotdogs.

It was a long day but all of the food is prepped and laundry is done.  David even got the stuff down from the attic that we need so tomorrow all we have to do is pack, take the pets to the kennel and prepare the house for a weekend away.  Wish me luck!

~Sarah

Ayden's First 4th!

Him + Me = A Whole Lotta Cuteness!!!

We celebrated Independence Day by going downtown for a parade! It was 99* and though it was fun, the heat and humidity made it a little miserable all at the same time...

We took our City Mini stroller because it has a monster sunshade and I lathered Ayden up with his new Badger sunscreen just to be safe. It's a good thing we did because his little legs were in the sun a lot. You see, I was sun burnt a lot as a kid so I think this is one area where I think I'm going to be a little paranoid.  I'll probably have Ayden getting out of the pool every 15 minutes to reapply throughout his childhood.  Poor kid...

The fun part was that we got to hang with our friends who met us there. The miserable part, besides the aforementioned heat was that the sirens, horns and motors scared poor Ayden to death. He had his adorable pouty lip out and huge crocodile tears. We decided to stop torturing him and left the parade to walk around and see all of the vendors that came out for the occasion. While we were walking around, Ayden got sleepy but just could not fall asleep.  I think he was just too hot and uncomfortable and possibly thirsty.  He had a bit of a melt down on the way to the car.  We cranked the AC up as high and cold as it would go and I nursed him to sleep in the car.  He had another small meltdown during the transfer to the car seat but once we got moving he fell back to sleep and slept all the way home (that's when I took the sleeping picture in the collage above).

As for the rest of our day, we took some food to some friends who just had a baby a week ago.  She was so adorable and tiny!  When people would hold newborn Ayden and say, "I don't remember my babies ever being this small..." I just couldn't believe that.  Didn't want to believe that.  I thought I'd always remember Ayden as a tiny newborn, but looking at that new little girl those exact words slipped right out of my mouth before I could stop them.

Then we went straight to the grocery to pick up everything we need for our camping trip this weekend.  Ayden fell asleep on the way there and didn't wake up until we got home.  Having such a stellar late afternoon nap pushed his bedtime back so we gave him a bath to wash all the sunscreen off, got him ready and then ate dinner while we watched for any sign of him finally getting sleepy.

He ended up going to sleep around 9:00pm.  I hope he can sleep through all the fireworks tonight! Last night he slept a FIVE AND A HALF hour stretch!! That is the longest sleep session to date!  I had to pump after his 4:30 am (!!) feeding because I was super full and leaking everywhere even after he ate...  I am hoping for a repeat tonight!  I filled an ice cube tray with the milk from my middle of the night pumping session and plan to let him "eat" them in a mesh feeder while we eat dinner.  We've been using ice cubes but I think he'll really enjoy milk cubes!

My plan for the remainder of the week is: story time and camping planning/prepping tomorrow and then packing on Friday.  This will be our first road trip with a baby!!  We'll head out Friday night after dinner and won't get back until Sunday. 

What would be the top 5 "must have" items to take for a baby on a road trip?  What 5 should we leave at home?

~Sarah

Mommy Brain Strikes Again!

Ayden had a record breaking night for sleep last night! He went to bed around 8, I gave home his dream feed at 10:30 and then he woke for feedings around 2:15am and 5:15am. Woohoo! I always bring him into our bed for that 5ish feeding and he usually nurses back to sleep until 7:30 or 8. This morning, however, he was awake enough to be intrigued by David's light up alarm clock so he stayed awake even after nursing. This was great for David because they got to hang out a little before he left for work; but I am not interested in it developing into a new habit. We like being able to sleep in on the weekends and a 5:15am wakeup everyday does not work for our little family. We'll see if it happens again tomorrow before we got too worried.

When he was ready for his first nap of the day, around 7, I took it with him and we slept for a good hour an a half! Needless to say, I felt better today than I have in a while.

 

I spent the morning doing some computer related to do's then ventured out for some errands. One of the errands on our list was to deposit a couple of checks at the bank.

*WARNING* serious mommy brain moment ahead...

Ayden had been fussy since we left the house and it really picked up when I stopped the car in the line at the bank drive through. Then David called so when it was my turn to make my transaction, I had a crying baby and was on the phone and was kind of in a hurry to get moving since I knew it would be the only thing to calm Ayden. When I was done, I was flustered and so happy to get out of that situation. Then, when I was almost home, I looked down and saw this in my lap...

 

Yes, I stole a bank tube. Of course, I texted David to tell him about it because I was totally aware of how hilarious it was.

I turned around and took it back. The teller was really nice about it but I could tell she wanted to laugh a little. She could have, then we'd be laughing together. Jeez... I had just told David yesterday that I am giving myself this first year to be a hot mess and then I'm raising the bar for myself to June Clever standards. I've got six and a half months to pull it together! :)

When David got home we headed to our home town to take Mav to the vet because he was overdue for his boardatella vaccine. We are boarding him this weekend while we go to my family reunion so we needed him to have it. While we were waiting to be seen, Ayden was smiling at all of the people in the waiting room and they were all talking about how cute and animated he is. It was so fun to watch him interact and them gush over his cuteness.

After the vet we watered David's parents' plants (they'll be in Japan for 2 weeks total) and ended the evening with a swim at my parent's house.

Exploring his PaPaw's beard :)

David is off work tomorrow for Independence Day so we plan to take Ayden to his first parade. Should be fun!!

~Sarah

Jumpin' Jig

This is a great sight to wake up to in the mornings! 

The only thing better is when his daddy is on the other side of him on the weekends <3.  Ayden is fun all day long but the mornings are just the best.  He's content to just lay there for a while and babbles away while he reaches out to touch my face and hands.  Aside from when he falls asleep nursing upon occasion, it really is when we have our most special moments.  Every morning when he wakes up we sing the "Good Morning" song that I used to use in my classroom to him and he LOVES it!

I know the average ear may not find my singing to be fabulous but Ayden is my biggest fan!

I had a dentist appointment this morning so my mom came up to hang with Ayden.  I put him to sleep before I left and was gone for about an hour and a half. While I was gone he woke up early from his nap so she sat in his glider with him and he fell back asleep and ended up getting in a good nap.  He woke again just 15 or 20 minutes before I got home and when I walked in they were sitting on the kitchen floor together petting and talking to Polly (our cat). 

It was a great visit for both of them and even though I would have loved to have done something a little more fun with my free time, I'm glad the dentist gave them a bonding opportunity.

We had a few cute developments today!  Ayden discovered the "sunroof" on the City Mini:

:)

And he discovered the joy of toe sucking!

He's always loved diaper changes and nakey time but now they are more fun than ever since he's discovered his toes and boy bits.  As long as he keeps liking diaper changes, I'm happy!

The last cute development is that he has graduated from door spinning to a door jumpin' jig.

He's not quite got full on jumping down yet but his attempts result in the cutest little jig I've ever seen! 

He's growing up so fast! 

~Sarah

Feeling Crafty

 

Today was much better than yesterday.  We are still completely infested with ants (eww) but other than that and the heat, we can't complain.  They say there's a 50% chance of storms tonight and with summer storms usually comes a cool down so we have our fingers crossed!

David hung out with Ayden for most of the morning so I could get some projects done and have some "me" time.

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The fact that I had a ton of half finished projects lying around was really getting to me so I was so happy for the chance to actually finish something!  What did I choose to do with my time?  I got crafty!

Meal planning board!

I actually like to make some of the DIY stuff that I pin on Pinterest.  Some people just call Pinterest "electronic hording," and I do pin a lot of things that I'll probably never get around to making/doing/seeing/using, but every once in a while, I open up my boards and pick something to actually make.   Pinterest really is a genius idea and I secretly wish I had thought of it... Here is the pin that inspired this project.  I got the frame at a local flea market for $3.50,  purchased the decorative paper and letter stickers from Michaels for $5.08 and had the clothes pins and index cards at my house already.  So for under $10 we not only have a functional meal planning system but a cute wall display.  I just love turning a pile of materials into something worth displaying in our home.  It looks so cute on our kitchen wall! When I was done I felt rejuvenated.  I'm pretty sure that it wouldn't of mattered what I did with my baby free time.  It was wonderful knowing that I could work on something to completion without the chance of being interrupted!!

The rest of the day was pretty laid back and we noticed that Ayden was more laid back too.  Babies really do feed off of our moods and emotions and I think Ayden was reacting to our stress levels yesterday.  It was nice to put "life" on pause today and just focus on ourselves and our little man!

Story time before bed!

I wish everyday could be a Sunday! 

~Sarah